A very important part of this project is the analysis of teaser trailers. The first teaser trailer I am going to analyse is The Bourne Ultimatum. To get some inspiration from this trailer I am going to look at many key concepts:
- Camera Angles
- Music/Sound
- Codes and Conventions
- Lighting
- Special effects
- Mise-en-scene
- Transitions and Edits


Film Facts.

Director: Paul Greengrass
Producers: Patrick Crowley, Frank Marshall
Main Character: Matt Damon
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Budget: $110 million.

The first thing I am going to point out about this trailer is that it is 1.21 minutes long. So to get our point across in our trailer in such a short space of time, we will need to use fast clips, with quick music to get the audience engaged into our trailer, as quick as possible. The first frame of this trailer is The significant ‘Universal Pictures’ logo, this lets the audience know straight away that this film has a big budget as it has been distributed by one of the best distributing companies.

When the first shots are being shown the first thing you recognize is that the music plays a major part. It goes from a low to high volume which creates a very mysterious atmosphere. The volume gets lower when there are words appearing, when the words are about to disappear it then starts to get louder again. It starts to make the audience think, ‘what is going on?’. During these sounds the camera rises from bottom to top of the man’s body, with an open road ahead of him. Using this camera movement is a very effective way of showing the whole picture in just a few seconds. Also, showing an open road at the start of the trailer can also represent this man’s long journey ahead of him. After this shot the words ‘HIS IDENTITY STOLEN’ appears, this instantly gets the audience guessing what has happened to this man. As this fades away another quick clip is shown, showing this man lying in water.

The editing used in this trailer is very effective. All the clips are very short, each clip is separated with a black screen, showing for a split second, it is a very good way of splitting up each shot in an action trailer. The sounds used are linked very well with the editing of the clips. With both of them linked together it creates a very action packed trailer.

In the next frame the words used are ‘HIS LOVED ONES MUDERED’, the clip after this shows a man shooting at a woman in a car, which crashes into a river (flying off a bridge). This may mean that in the previous films a wife or sister of his has been murdered. So in this trailer it is telling the audience what has happened in previous films. In this clip it might be telling the audience that revenge is going to come. The next frame says ‘HIS PAST DESTROYED’, which tells us a lot about this man. From the start of the trailer to this point, the lighting is dull, sepia, even black and white at some points. I think this is used to show that this mans life has been rough and he needs to get revenge. Using dull or bright lighting can instantly show what the film is going to be like. In our case an action film can use a combination of the both, maybe dull lighting at the start and then bright lighting towards the end.

After the fade out of these words a series of clips are shown, a combination of gun shots, explosions and car crashes. These are the typical Codes and convections used in an action film. When these codes and convections are used it is an easy way of showing why this film is an action film, the explosions, car crashing and gun shots are all associated with crime. This maybe something I have to think about when making our teaser trailer.

The next clip showed is the main character speaking, this is the first time someone has spoken in this trailer, after 35 seconds. The start of the trailer has just been moving images and sounds, maybe that is more effective than words? For the next 15 seconds ‘Jason Bourne’ is introduced, he is being described as a lethal weapon. A new music tune is introduced, which is quicker. A series of clips are being shown, one with him on a wanted sign, another with a lady talking to a group of people about him. These people are located in an office with camera’s everywhere, the audience instantly understand that these two oppositions are against each other.

After this clip it shows us who ‘Jason Bourne’ really is. There are fighting scenes with him winning a three on one, there is one of him doing motorbike stunts and one of him jumping from buildings. During this series of clips the music gets faster and more up beat, with explosions going off and him being chased. All of these are codes and conventions for an action trailer.

Special effects can also help the trailer look more realisitc, if a certain part is filmed and they need a car to fly over the top of him, then special effects would be used. One speical effect which is very good is at the start when he is laying on top of the water. I also like the part when he is jumping from building to building, i feel this is a special effect, but the camera angle/movement used is so effective, it actually makes the clip look like he is being chased, which is what this whole trailer is about.

The Trailer ends with the title appearing ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’, with when it is coming out and a website at the end.

Joe O’Grady